Having completed the building of their monumental St Helen basilica in Birkirkara with its sacristies at the turn of the 20th century, the chapter of St Helen set out to decorate the vault and dome of their church.

By 1884, Giuseppe Calì had already painted the glory of St Helen in the main apse. Certainly knowledgeable of what was happening on the Roman scene, this time round the collegiate chapter turned its gaze to the Roman Virgino Monti (Genzano di Roma 1852-1942). By that time, Monti could boast of an extensive, indeed illustrious, portfolio of commissions in both secular and ecclesiastical buildings.

In a certain sense, he was Pope Leo XIII’s artist of choice, in that the pope had certainly intervened in commissioning to him the decoration of various churches in his native town of Carpineto Romano. He had already completed extensive commissions in the two largest churches built in Rome at that period: the international Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart in Via Marsala (1887) and San Gioacchino in Prati (1892-93).

In what was to be the first but not the only commission in Malta, Monti completed the painting of the vault and the dome at St Helen’s in just four years between 1906 and 1910.

Monti depicted scenes from the life of St Helen and her son, Constantine the Great.  The whole cycle culminates with the triumph of the Cross in the dome, in which the artist presents an interpretation of the Last Judgment, everything reaching its climax in the imposing image of Christ, the Rex tremendae maiestatis, as the judge of all.

The iconographic cycle was set by the Palermitan theologian Mgr Salvatore di Pietro, who studied literature at the Scuola di Belle Arti in Rome. Monti expresses the very best of his style. Inspired by 17th-century Roman classicism, and its reinterpretation in the 19th century, Monti depicts his figures in a naturalistic manner, portrayed within classical architectural motifs. He fully takes in the principles of the nascent liturgical movement and its tastes in returning to the simplicity of the paleo-Christian period, especially where liturgical wear, art and architecture are concerned. The dome itself was inaugurated in 1906.

In executing these works, Virginio was assisted by his son Giuseppe Monti and his apprentice Rodolfo Villani. Very early on after its completion, Malta’s porous stone made necessary a number of restorative interventions.

Detail showing an altered infill and integration from the past restoration intervention.

The chapter decided to cover the dome with lead…. It does not seem such works were ever carried out

Already on September 5, 1932, the provost of the time, Can C. Bonnici, in a petition to the vicar general, Can Paolo Galea, explained that urgent restoration was necessary on a part of the paintings on the church’s vault. In his formal request, he explained that “gli importanti affreschi esistenti sulla volta della chiesa collegiata stanno in alcune parte danneggiandosi per l’umidità sviluppata dalla pietra salnitrata sottostante”.

He further stated that they had already informed Prof. Monti of what was happening to his ceiling, who had urged them to undertake the necessary restoration as soon as possible, “facendo prima cambiare la pietra sottostante, onde ovviare alla umidità di estendersi maggiormente con evidente maggior rovina”. Being advanced in age, he was, however, unable to carry out these works himself but advised them to entrust these works to Prof. Villani, who we know had helped him in executing them.

Bonnici explained that the works were expected to cost £200. He petitioned the Curia to allow the works and to authorise the use of funds of various confraternities, which in turn had already devoted certain sums for these urgent works to be carried out. The procurator of the Altar of the Annunciation had deposited £69, that of the Crucifix another £50. Bonnici requested authorisation to borrow another £100, with the income of the Altar of the Annunciation as guarantee.

Unfortunately, these works did not stop the continual deterioration of both vault and dome. So much that, on December 21, 1953, Can V. Saliba, as procurator of the basilica, in a petition presented to the Curia, attested that the chapter had deemed it necessary to ask the advice of Prof. Cesare Brandi as to what could be done to save these paintings from the harm being done by continuous water infiltration.

During the non-invasive measurement of the sub-surface moisture content of the painting.

Upon his advice, and that of other local experts, the chapter decided to cover the whole dome and ceiling with “lastre di piombo” (sheets of lead). The cost for such works was to amount to £2,000. Since the Veneranda Lampada of Birkirkara did not have such funds available, the chapter authorised Can Saliba to request a loan from the Cassa Pia Amministrazione of the diocese. It was a considerable amount that was to be repaid at £100 per year with interest. Even though the loan was approved, it does not seem, at least from what we know, that such works were ever carried out.

Considering the continuous deterioration of the dome’s paintings, which by the 1980s was at an advanced stage, artist and restorer Samuel Bugeja (1920-2004) was approached in 1985 by the basilica’s chapter to restore the dome. Seeing photographs taken in the 1980s, it is evident that the dome suffered considerable damage due to humidity and abundant water infiltrations from outside.

The photographs are also a testimony that Bugeja at the time was entrusted with a laborious and complex task to save what was left of the original paintings and reconstruct the large losses.

The reconstructions were carried out using the marouflage technique, by reconstructing the lost forms over large pieces of canvas and attaching the canvas on the stone support. The works were carried out between 1985 and 1987 and was assisted by his two sons Joe and Gerald Bugeja.

In 2016 a small portion from the original paintings was found crumbled on the floor of the basilica’s presbytery, which consequently alarmed the basilica’s chapter and curator to promptly carry out a restoration of the outer fabric of the dome and a third restoration intervention in the history of the dome’s paintings.

Through a public call for tenders administered by the Archdiocese of Malta Fondazzjoni għall-Patrimonju Kulturali, Atelier del Restauro Ltd was awarded the challenging conservation project, which started in November 2018 by a monitoring and mapping campaign. Scaffolding was erected in June 2019, where the actual state of conservation of the paintings was viewed from a close distance.

Detail showing the painting after the completion of the grouting intervention. This particular area was found to be almost completely detaching from the wall.

The state of conservation of the painted dome at St Helen’s Basilica was found to be compromised by a number of deteriorating factors. Primarily the paintings have been greatly affected by veils of salt efflorescence, suggesting the infiltration of moisture from the external fabric of the dome. In other areas, the crystallisation of salts occurred beneath the preparation layer. It was therefore evident that rain water again found access to the interior of the dome.

This has resulted in the detachment of Monti’s underlying thin and fragile preparation layer, which in turn has caused detachments of the painting strata from the stone support, and in some areas to break away completely, resulting in large lacunae.

Furthermore, the restoration materials used in the restoration of the 1980s were found to be altering and deteriorating. An acrylic resin applied to the whole surface of the paintings was impeding the water vapour permeability of the porous surface of the paintings.

The Atelier del Restauro team is collaborating with the Centro Nazionale delle Ricerche in Florence to carry out investigations through the use of infra-red thermal imaging and non-invasive measurement of the sub-surface moisture content of the paintings.

Other scientific analysis involved samples from the stratigraphy of the paintings aimed at identifying the materials used by Monti as well as those used during past restoration interventions. The analysis indicated that Monti’s paintings were completed using an ‘a secco’ technique on a thin layer of plaster, not using the fresco technique. The first challenging task of the project was the emergency  treatment to secure in place the large and heavy detachments  at risk of breaking off completely; this was carried out using gauzes and Japanese paper. The consolidation of the powdery stone support using a solution of nanolimes followed.

During the emergency facing of the painting using layers of Japanese paper.

The cautious interventions proceeded by the laborious and complex task of consolidating the very fragile pictorial and preparatory layer which presented voids in more than 30 per cent of the painted dome.  The task involved great concentration and a constant micrometric verification of the surface treated carried out by using a low-specific-gravity injection mortar based on natural limes.

The next challenge was the cleaning intervention, which is ongoing. This involves a double cleaning intervention for the removal of the tenacious thick acrylic resin that was applied in the 1980s. The cleaning intervention also includes the removal of the oxidised overpaintings, dust and pollutants and a large amount of infills.

This intervention is seeing the recovery of the painting’s light and airy pastel colours while rediscovering its own balance with the contrasting complex and bold baroque architectural structure of the dome.

The team will then proceed to the aesthetical intervention, which will involve the infilling of a large number of open joints and the pictorial integration of the lacunae.

The conservation and restoration project will be completed later this year.

The project is 80 per cent co-financed through European funds.

Can Dr Nicholas Doublet is the diocesan archivist. Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani are conservators at Atelier del Restauro Ltd.